“A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, 'You are mad; you are not like us.” ― St. Antony the Great
Wednesday 16 August 2017
Tuesday 15 August 2017
Your prayers please
For David himself
Ps. 34 Judica, Domine, nocentes me. David, in the person of Christ, prayeth against his persecutors: prophetically foreshewing the punishments that shall fall upon them.
[1] For David himself. Judge thou, O Lord, them that wrong me: overthrow them that fight against me. [2] Take hold of arms and shield: and rise up to help me. [3] Bring out the sword, and shut up the way against them that persecute me: say to my soul: I am thy salvation. [4] Let them be confounded and ashamed that seek after my soul. Let them be turned back and be confounded that devise against me. [5] Let them become as dust before the wind: and let the angel of the Lord straiten them.
[6] Let their way become dark and slippery; and let the angel of the Lord pursue them. [7] For without cause they have hidden their net for me unto destruction: without cause they have upbraided my soul. [8] Let the snare which he knoweth not come upon him: and let the net which he hath hidden catch him: and let the net which he hath hidden catch him: and into that very snare let them fall. [9] But my soul shall rejoice in the Lord; and shall be delighted in his salvation. [10] All my bones shall say: Lord, who is like to thee? Who deliverest the poor from the hand of them that are stronger than he; the needy and the poor from them that strip him.
[11] Unjust witnesses rising up have asked me things I knew not. [12] They repaid me evil for good: to the depriving me of my soul. [13] But as for me, when they were troublesome to me, I was clothed with haircloth. I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer shall be turned into my bosom. [14] As a neighbour and as an own brother, so did I please: as one mourning and sorrowful so was I humbled. [15] But they rejoiced against me, and came together: scourges were gathered together upon me, and I knew not.
[16] They were separated, and repented not: they tempted me, they scoffed at me with scorn: they gnashed upon me with their teeth. [17] Lord, when wilt thou look upon me? rescue thou my soul from their malice: my only one from the lions. [18] I will give thanks to thee in a great church; I will praise thee in a strong people. [19] Let not them that are my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: who have hated me without cause, and wink with the eyes. [20] For they spoke indeed peaceably to me; and speaking in the anger of the earth they devised guile.
[21] And they opened their mouth wide against me; they said: Well done, well done, our eyes have seen it. [22] Thou hast seen, O Lord, be not thou silent: O Lord, depart not from me. [23] Arise, and be attentive to my judgment: to my cause, my God, and my Lord. [24] Judge me, O Lord my God according to thy justice, and let them not rejoice over me. [25] Let them not say in their hearts: It is well, it is well, to our mind: neither let them say: We have swallowed him up.
[26] Let them blush: and be ashamed together, who rejoice at my evils. Let them be clothed with confusion and shame, who speak great things against me. [27] Let them rejoice and be glad, who are well pleased with my justice, and let them say always: The Lord be magnified, who delights in the peace of his servant. [28] And my tongue shall meditate thy justice, thy praise all the day long.
Sunday 13 August 2017
Quo Vadis, indeed!
A blessed Lord's Day to you all.
Another blogger wrote yesterday that blogging this past week was slow. That was the case here too, but it was not because there was nothing to blog about or I was going through kind of self-doubt. On Wednesday, my 8 year old Lenova Thinkpad R61 fried, it truly did its best with Windows 10. Now that I have my fancy new Lenova Ideapad, we're back on track.
When I began this blog back in February 2006, it was to post the music list and liturgical information for the choir and any interested parishioners at my territorial parish in Toronto where I had begun a choir. After a while, as I read a few other blogs, Father Z and the New Liturgical Movement specifically, I came to realise more about how blogs worked, how we could communicate and learn from one another, and on a personal level, how a blog could also be an outlet for ones thoughts about the issues facing the Church and the broader culture. The nature of my posts and writing gradually took on a different theme. To be truthful, it also provided an outlet, if the Catholic paper would not print my letters, then I would. If the call or email to the bishop was ignored, there was another option.
Under Pope Benedict XVI (I do not accept the title, "Emeritus"), blogging was pretty straightforward. We had a Pope we loved and whom we saw working on a restoration, We accepted his "hermeneutic of continuity." and we went about our work. I wrote about liturgy and other matters and stood with the Pope and the Bishops in the matter of the new Missal for the modernist rite and worked to promote the "extraordinary form." In fact, I worked weekly in both, as some of you will recall.
In February and March 2013, all that changed. Two years later, in 2015, I faced a major challenge because of my work here and that is recalled permanently to the immediate left. With the prayers of you, a certain Cardinal, a certain Bishop and many priests, I emerged from that scandalous and repugnant episode. People offered thousands of dollars to aid my fight. Make no mistake, the persecution against me has continued behind the scenes, but they will not succeed.
There has been a cost to this blog. There has never been a request for money, unlike some others. I've been threatened with a lawsuit, received countless harassing emails, other threats of which I cannot speak and the loss of friendships from hypocrites who ate my food, accepted my hospitality but can't stomach the truth.
My job here has been to wake up Catholics and through that, in whatever small way, help people understand and get through this dark crisis in the Church.
Some may take an approach that we should no longer report on the harrowing episodes of those who have infiltrated the Church to destroy Her and your faith. They would rather now take a more passive approach and speak of butterflies and meadows and all things bright and beautiful as if doing otherwise has played in to the hands of the enemy. I understand the emotions that lead one to want to walk in the meadow. I do not accept that it is what we need to do. I won't be throwing in the towel, I will use it to wipe the sweat from my brow and trust that God will give me the fortitude to get in for another round.
No doubt, the enemy is well pleased at the throwing in of the towel by those who have such an incredible reach. After all, hundreds of thousands of visitors a month can now just look at little kittens, they're so soft and furry.
Another blogger wrote yesterday that blogging this past week was slow. That was the case here too, but it was not because there was nothing to blog about or I was going through kind of self-doubt. On Wednesday, my 8 year old Lenova Thinkpad R61 fried, it truly did its best with Windows 10. Now that I have my fancy new Lenova Ideapad, we're back on track.
When I began this blog back in February 2006, it was to post the music list and liturgical information for the choir and any interested parishioners at my territorial parish in Toronto where I had begun a choir. After a while, as I read a few other blogs, Father Z and the New Liturgical Movement specifically, I came to realise more about how blogs worked, how we could communicate and learn from one another, and on a personal level, how a blog could also be an outlet for ones thoughts about the issues facing the Church and the broader culture. The nature of my posts and writing gradually took on a different theme. To be truthful, it also provided an outlet, if the Catholic paper would not print my letters, then I would. If the call or email to the bishop was ignored, there was another option.
Under Pope Benedict XVI (I do not accept the title, "Emeritus"), blogging was pretty straightforward. We had a Pope we loved and whom we saw working on a restoration, We accepted his "hermeneutic of continuity." and we went about our work. I wrote about liturgy and other matters and stood with the Pope and the Bishops in the matter of the new Missal for the modernist rite and worked to promote the "extraordinary form." In fact, I worked weekly in both, as some of you will recall.
In February and March 2013, all that changed. Two years later, in 2015, I faced a major challenge because of my work here and that is recalled permanently to the immediate left. With the prayers of you, a certain Cardinal, a certain Bishop and many priests, I emerged from that scandalous and repugnant episode. People offered thousands of dollars to aid my fight. Make no mistake, the persecution against me has continued behind the scenes, but they will not succeed.
There has been a cost to this blog. There has never been a request for money, unlike some others. I've been threatened with a lawsuit, received countless harassing emails, other threats of which I cannot speak and the loss of friendships from hypocrites who ate my food, accepted my hospitality but can't stomach the truth.
My job here has been to wake up Catholics and through that, in whatever small way, help people understand and get through this dark crisis in the Church.
Some may take an approach that we should no longer report on the harrowing episodes of those who have infiltrated the Church to destroy Her and your faith. They would rather now take a more passive approach and speak of butterflies and meadows and all things bright and beautiful as if doing otherwise has played in to the hands of the enemy. I understand the emotions that lead one to want to walk in the meadow. I do not accept that it is what we need to do. I won't be throwing in the towel, I will use it to wipe the sweat from my brow and trust that God will give me the fortitude to get in for another round.
No doubt, the enemy is well pleased at the throwing in of the towel by those who have such an incredible reach. After all, hundreds of thousands of visitors a month can now just look at little kittens, they're so soft and furry.
Labels:
All about Vox,
Blogs and Bloggers
Tuesday 8 August 2017
Martin Currie, D.D. the Archbishop of St. John's and the sad winding down of the Catholic faith
The Catholic faithful of Newfoundland and Labrador have suffered greatly at the hands of those in the Church who have betrayed Christ.
Long before the news of sodomitical sexual perverts in the priesthood was made known and the great tragedy of abuse upon tens of thousands of young boys and girls, but mostly boys, in the United States, Canada had its own crisis in Newfoundland. This idyllic province of kind and charitable people endured a scandalous and grotesquely sinful series of cover-ups by its bishops - cover ups of rape, abuse and battery by priests and religious brother upon hundreds of boys, many of them in the Mt. Cashel Orphanage. The pathetic series culminated in the arrest and conviction of the Bishop of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Raymond Lahey, born in St. John's and former bishop of the Diocese of St. George, Newfoundland. Lahey could very well have been a child victim of pervert priests who grew up to become an aficionado of child pornography.
The Church is in utter collapse in Newfoundland. The Archbishop, Martin Currie, has announced the new "strategic plan," to manage the crisis and the shut-down.
To my many readers in Newfoundland, you have every right to be outraged by these pathetic men. They have no faith and they have closed it off to you. You must rise up and confront these malefactors and take back the faith of your fathers.
What are you waiting for? How much more abuse will you take?
Long before the news of sodomitical sexual perverts in the priesthood was made known and the great tragedy of abuse upon tens of thousands of young boys and girls, but mostly boys, in the United States, Canada had its own crisis in Newfoundland. This idyllic province of kind and charitable people endured a scandalous and grotesquely sinful series of cover-ups by its bishops - cover ups of rape, abuse and battery by priests and religious brother upon hundreds of boys, many of them in the Mt. Cashel Orphanage. The pathetic series culminated in the arrest and conviction of the Bishop of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Raymond Lahey, born in St. John's and former bishop of the Diocese of St. George, Newfoundland. Lahey could very well have been a child victim of pervert priests who grew up to become an aficionado of child pornography.
The Church is in utter collapse in Newfoundland. The Archbishop, Martin Currie, has announced the new "strategic plan," to manage the crisis and the shut-down.
To my many readers in Newfoundland, you have every right to be outraged by these pathetic men. They have no faith and they have closed it off to you. You must rise up and confront these malefactors and take back the faith of your fathers.
What are you waiting for? How much more abuse will you take?
Labels:
Archbishop Currrie,
Woe Canada
Saturday 5 August 2017
Just another lawsuit sexual perversion and abuse by Canadian Basilian priests - move along, nothing to see here!
When will it end?
How deep is the filth?
How many victims are there; is it a number known only to God?
How many suicides, how many adult lives lived in turmoil and mental torture because of what these Basilian priests did too so many boys?
How many were victims of "Happy Hands Marshall?"
https://www.sudbury.com/local-news/lawsuit-by-victim-of-catholic-priest-should-have-a-trial-date-soon-688907
How deep is the filth?
How many victims are there; is it a number known only to God?
How many suicides, how many adult lives lived in turmoil and mental torture because of what these Basilian priests did too so many boys?
How many were victims of "Happy Hands Marshall?"
https://www.sudbury.com/local-news/lawsuit-by-victim-of-catholic-priest-should-have-a-trial-date-soon-688907
Thursday 3 August 2017
Knights of Columbus change the Fourth Degree uniforms - Joining the new Francis fashion?
The Knights of Columbus have changed their Fourth Degree uniforms.
They now join the Francis revolution and the Knights of Malta in running down the brand.
Labels:
Knights of Columbus,
Knights of Malta
Wednesday 2 August 2017
A tough few weeks - but fear not, Our Lord is Victor
The Archbishop of Ottawa, Terrence Prendergast, S.J. has been quoted in an article regarding the Spider on Notre Dame Basilica:
"I guess we thought people would see this as a sign the church is involved in Ottawa's celebrations," he said. "Many people, both Catholic and others, English and Francophone, remarked how pleased they were that Notre Dame was involved in our celebration of Canada 150."
Well, I guess His Grace, thought wrong, eh?
How did this happen? How did a man who one day can dress in fine lace and ordain men to the priesthood according to the ancient rites turn around and do this, and then try to justify it instead of offering an apology to those scandalized?
A good reader has written to express concern, due to the posts in the last few weeks. Forgive me for my negativity, my outrage. It seems to have begun with the gay Monsignor's cocaine party. How can we be anything but outraged by these men?
Homosexual orgies, cocaine and probably crystal-meth, financial corruption and the departure of one of Italy's most respected accountants, the tyrannical removal of faithful men in the Vatican, the "gay-abandon," of certain priests and their promotion through books of a tolerance for grievous sin, the attack on Catholics and now, a so-called, "excommunication" for speaking out.
In my own country, two of our leading churchmen engage in mind-numbing actions such as Prendergast's spider and Lacroix's (and the Atlantic Bishops) refusal to confront the facts of final impenitence of the person who commits suicide by allowing a doctor to murder them.
We must remember that Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour has already won the battle and the war. Our churchmen are mostly cowards, many are worse. Many of them, maybe most of them, seem to have lost the faith and now find themselves as the manager in last Sunday's Gospel (the proper Lectionary), "to dig, I cannot, to beg, I am too ashamed." Others never had it and came in to the Church to undermine the faith.
We must remain strong and faithful. We must remain at the Cross with Our Lord as he is crucified again. We must not abandon Him, or His Church no matter what comes. We must remain beside our Mother. We must beat off those who would rape Her, those who would defile Her beauty. God is allowing this. We must trust Him and remain faithful to Him in all that we know and all that we have. We know our faith and we can pass it on, we have our Mass, as long as we do, if it is taken from us, we can pray it at home, we have our rosaries and our Saints, we have Our Blessed Mother Mary. We are not alone. We stay with His Church and Her true traditions. We stand and speak out, we do not fail to be counted as one of His.
Let us pray for one another, please pray for me.
Tuesday 1 August 2017
Cardinal Gérald Lacroix asks "who are we to judge?" You're an Apostle of Jesus Christ, that's "who!"
Cardinal Gérald Lacroix, the Archbishop of Quebec and Primate of Canada is a man deluded by political correctness and a mind of modernist confusion; a man that another generation of Quebec Churchmen would have sent off to a monastery for serious rehabilitation and a life of prayer and work.
In an interview on the matter of a person asking for medically assisted murder/suicide, he said, "who are we to judge?" on the matter of them having a Catholic funeral
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/canadian-cardinal-will-offer-funerals-for-euthanized-who-are-we-to-judge
Suicide, is a mortal sin. There are mitigating factors, however, to the culpability of the individual. Given our understanding of mental illness and depression, some of those who took their lives are tortured souls, irrational, suffering from psychosis, great stress or other serious mental illness. They may feel trapped, may be goaded into committing such an act, bullied, threatened, insane. There are multiple reasons that would cause a person to commit such an irrational act. For these poor souls, there can, on our part, only be compassion and sorrow and a trust in the mercy of God.
Someone who asks to be murdered under my pathetic nation's new euthanasia law is totally different. That person, knowingly, intentionally and willfully takes their own life. They are of sound mind; in fact, the so-called "law' requires it! They not only have the mortal sin of their own suicide but they are culpable for asking someone to murder them. They are obstinate in sin, they have committed the ultimate sin, the rejection of the Holy Spirit and objectively speaking, every single one is in Hell.
Cardinal Gérald Lacroix is a coward, a pathetic man who in another era of great Quebecois churchmen would have been slapped by men such as St. Francoise Laval and I dare say, St. Andre of Montreal. A man who has long forgotten the admonishment by the Prophet Ezeckiel, 3:18:
Gérald Lacroix, a pathetic churchman with incredibly black hair for someone of his age.
Does he, or doesn't he?
In an interview on the matter of a person asking for medically assisted murder/suicide, he said, "who are we to judge?" on the matter of them having a Catholic funeral
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/canadian-cardinal-will-offer-funerals-for-euthanized-who-are-we-to-judge
Suicide, is a mortal sin. There are mitigating factors, however, to the culpability of the individual. Given our understanding of mental illness and depression, some of those who took their lives are tortured souls, irrational, suffering from psychosis, great stress or other serious mental illness. They may feel trapped, may be goaded into committing such an act, bullied, threatened, insane. There are multiple reasons that would cause a person to commit such an irrational act. For these poor souls, there can, on our part, only be compassion and sorrow and a trust in the mercy of God.
Someone who asks to be murdered under my pathetic nation's new euthanasia law is totally different. That person, knowingly, intentionally and willfully takes their own life. They are of sound mind; in fact, the so-called "law' requires it! They not only have the mortal sin of their own suicide but they are culpable for asking someone to murder them. They are obstinate in sin, they have committed the ultimate sin, the rejection of the Holy Spirit and objectively speaking, every single one is in Hell.
Cardinal Gérald Lacroix is a coward, a pathetic man who in another era of great Quebecois churchmen would have been slapped by men such as St. Francoise Laval and I dare say, St. Andre of Montreal. A man who has long forgotten the admonishment by the Prophet Ezeckiel, 3:18:
"If, when I say to the wicked, Thou shalt surely die: thou declare it not to him, nor speak to him, that he may be converted from his wicked way, and live: the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at thy hand."
Will Gérald Lacroix spend an eternity in the lowest pits of Hell with those whom he did not "judge," screaming back at him in anger for not preaching against what they did to themselves? The Prophet Ezeckiel says it without any hesitation.
Gérald Lacroix, a pathetic churchman with incredibly black hair for someone of his age.
Does he, or doesn't he?
Labels:
Cardinal Lacroix,
Euthanasia,
Kaybeckers,
Woe Canada
Saturday 29 July 2017
Abortionist praised by Bergoglio speaks in a Catholic Church - Catholics thrown out!
Do you think this man who claims the Chair of Peter should be addressed as "Holy Father?"
What a disgraceful criminal who dares to sit as Christ's Vicar on Earth. As we mourn the death but rejoice at the new Saint, Charlie Guard a true Victim Soul, this satanic woman, praised by Bergoglio of Rome, speaks in a Catholic Church whilst the faithful opposed are thrown out.
This is Bergoglio's fault. He praised her, calling her one of "Italy's forgotten greats," and this is the result.
He will be held accountable.
May he repent and convert before he ends up in the lowest pit of Hell.
Vicar of Christ my foot.
Vicar of Satan is more like it.
What a disgraceful criminal who dares to sit as Christ's Vicar on Earth. As we mourn the death but rejoice at the new Saint, Charlie Guard a true Victim Soul, this satanic woman, praised by Bergoglio of Rome, speaks in a Catholic Church whilst the faithful opposed are thrown out.
This is Bergoglio's fault. He praised her, calling her one of "Italy's forgotten greats," and this is the result.
He will be held accountable.
May he repent and convert before he ends up in the lowest pit of Hell.
Vicar of Christ my foot.
Vicar of Satan is more like it.
BLOGS | JUL. 28, 2017
Italian Pro-Abortionist Speaks in Church; Catholics Ejected, Silenced
Despite strong protests, local Caritas office sponsors Emma Bonino to speak on immigration with the approval of the parish priest while the local bishop chooses to remain silent.
In the face of strong opposition, one of Italy’s most notorious pro-abortionists spoke in a Catholic church on Wednesday while pro-life Catholics were locked out, silenced or ejected.
Emma Bonino addressed the issue of immigration at the July 26 event, on the feast of St. Anne and St. Joachim, at the church of San Defendente in San Rocco di Cossato in the diocese of Biella, northern Italy (see video here).
The church had been made available to her by the parish priest, Father Mario Marchiori, despite many protests by Catholics and a sit-in aimed at blocking the meeting. The event was sponsored by a local branch of Caritas Italiana, the Church’s aid and humanitarian organization.
Read the rest at: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/famous-italian-pro-abortionist-speaks-in-church-catholics-ejected-silenced
Emma Bonino addressed the issue of immigration at the July 26 event, on the feast of St. Anne and St. Joachim, at the church of San Defendente in San Rocco di Cossato in the diocese of Biella, northern Italy (see video here).
The church had been made available to her by the parish priest, Father Mario Marchiori, despite many protests by Catholics and a sit-in aimed at blocking the meeting. The event was sponsored by a local branch of Caritas Italiana, the Church’s aid and humanitarian organization.
Read the rest at: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/famous-italian-pro-abortionist-speaks-in-church-catholics-ejected-silenced
Friday 28 July 2017
Terrence Prendegast, S.J. Sells out the dignity of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame
Are we to believe that the same Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J. of Ottawa who lead the "consecration" of Canada to the Immaculate Heart of Mary actually believes it?
Feel free to Tweet this article to him:
Which idiot told him that this was a good idea?
What possessed this man, or the Rector to permit this?
What possessed this man, or the Rector to permit this?
What kind of Bishop would permit this kind of abomination to be done to the Cathedral, and one named after Notre Dame?
What a filthy disgrace!
Look, Prendergast can offer a Pontfical Mass at the FSSP one morning and that night go with a wooden crozier to a Jamboree Mass. To these modernists, it's all worship.
People think Prendergast is one the good ones.
Bovine excrement!
UPDATE:
A friend has sent the Archdiocesan "communique." This abomination was in planning for over a year. Reports are that the Rector was opposed and the Bishop, Terrence Prendergast, S.J. gave personal approval.
Further, he Tweeted it out.
UPDATE:
A friend has sent the Archdiocesan "communique." This abomination was in planning for over a year. Reports are that the Rector was opposed and the Bishop, Terrence Prendergast, S.J. gave personal approval.
Further, he Tweeted it out.
Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, you are a disgrace, a modernist scoundrel. At traitor to Our Lady. Another useless Bishop with no episcopal spine.
How worse will your soon to be successor be? May he be appointed by a real Pope!
About “La Machine” event on the grounds of Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica
The company that was invited to our city by Ottawa 2017 is based in Nantes, France. It produces live theatre events using large machines that receive wide acclaim. This is their first appearance in North America and it is happening here, in our nation’s capital.
Msgr. Daniel Berniquez, Rector of the Cathedral, was approached last year to see if he would allow the cathedral parking lot and parish hall to be used to set up for this special event to help celebrate Canada’s 150th Birthday.
Because of the cathedral’s location downtown opposite the National Art Gallery, the organizers thought it offered an ideal staging area for the set up.
With the large spider sculpture across the street in front of the National Gallery (“Mama”) the “La Machine” organizers thought it would be interesting to pretend that the mechanical spider was approaching “Mama” from the grounds of the cathedral.
This once in a lifetime event celebrates the 150th Anniversary celebration of Canada’s Confederation. It offers an opportunity for the archdiocese, the Catholic community and Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica to cooperate with the city and the organizers to foster a positive relationship with the community at large as well as with many tourists, especially with young families. It is also an opportunity for a positive civic relationship by joining in the Capital’s celebrations of our 150th, Ottawa 2017.
May the Lord bless you with a restful and relaxing rest of the summer.
Archdiocesan Communications Service
July 28, 2017
Wednesday 26 July 2017
Sorry Cardinal Sarah, I'm not buying what you're selling!
You are probably familiar with how Cardinal Sarah, in his earnest attempt to keep the "Reform of the Reform" alive, was slapped down last year over the "ad orientem" posture matter. I wrote then that the idea of the ROTR was dead and that the "bastard rite" was not reformable.
The tools needed to put lipstick on the pig are already there. The mock of the Mass brought to you by Giovanni Montini already has all that which is necessary to bring it more in line with the traditional. Use the Graduale Romanum of 1975 for the chant, face east, use incense, Penitential Rite A and the Roman Canon (EPI), incense, and so on. But this is all window dressing, it is lipstick on a pig. The fundamental problems remain in the Offertory, the theology behind that Missal and, yes the Lectionary.
Others have written erudite articles on this. Dr. Shaw, Father Zuhlsdorf and more, Father Raymond J. DeSouza has come out backing it and then, backed off. You can read them.
I'm a little behind on this post, so there is no sense me rehashing them, but I will give a few of my thoughts, given my over thirty years of work in both "forms" of the Roman Rite.
- The one improvement that could benefit the traditional Lectionary is the structured Advent weekday readings. This follows the ancient Lenten lectionary in the traditional rite where each day has prescribed readings rather than ferial or Sunday repetition.
- An Old Testament Lesson could be added to Sundays and First Class Feasts.
- There are no other benefits, notwithstanding Sacrosanctam Concilium.
The loss would be greater. Embers. Rogations. Vigils. Octaves, the yearly repetition of beautiful Catholic doctrine. The Mass is not a bible study.
When one reads the Divine Office, particularly even with the 1961 revisions, one sees the intricate connections between the Office and the Mass. It is especially evident in the Divino Affaltu and the Sanctoral cycle. The readings in the Office are related to the readings of the Mass and the chants of the Mass are also intricately woven in to the readings.
At one time, I hoped for a unified calendar and lectionary. That was when I worked with both, "forms". I see now that folly.
The calendar is the other challenge put forth by the good Cardinal, and I do not doubt his sincerity, but it is simply not possible. The modern must give way to the traditional. The traditional feast days for saints would require restoration. What about the Embers, the Rogations, Vigils, Octaves, Christ the King?
No, get back to paying attention to bringing the Novus Ordo back where it belongs, at least to the point of the "1965 Missal."
But get your hands off the traditional.
Monday 24 July 2017
God bless you little Charlie
The British press complain about the media circus. Perhaps, had they done their jobs earlier, this little baby would have had a chance.
Damn the Queen!
Where was Elizabeth Regina in all of this? Where was she in this crime? Sitting by whilst the State allowed her subject suffer to the point of no return. A disgraceful Queen, a failed Monarch. Shame on her.
England is a criminal state. A nation that has lost its soul. A land that has lost its faith and deserves what it is going to get. Oh yes, it is going to get just what it deserves.
The little boy was baptized. When he dies, he will be a saint in heaven.
May he intercede then for England's conversion and that of its monarch before she dies and is judged. May Charlie delight for eternity before the very Throne of God.
Damn the Queen!
Where was Elizabeth Regina in all of this? Where was she in this crime? Sitting by whilst the State allowed her subject suffer to the point of no return. A disgraceful Queen, a failed Monarch. Shame on her.
England is a criminal state. A nation that has lost its soul. A land that has lost its faith and deserves what it is going to get. Oh yes, it is going to get just what it deserves.
The little boy was baptized. When he dies, he will be a saint in heaven.
May he intercede then for England's conversion and that of its monarch before she dies and is judged. May Charlie delight for eternity before the very Throne of God.
Labels:
England
Sunday 23 July 2017
Moving beyond the term "papolatry" to the realisation of the subversive element
I've used the term "papolatry," as have others, to describe the almost idolatrous nature of the treatment of the current Bishop of Rome and his sycophants promotion of his every word and breath being from his "god of surprises." We see it in the case of priests on Twitter, the Vatican's own press (more on that tomorrow), and people such as Austin Ivereigh, parroting every word of Bergoglio's as if it was the new divine revelation and we are too stupid to get with the party.
The word, papolatry, is of Protestant origin and used as a smear on Catholicism. The point of using it, at least on my part, is to show how we have ascribe to the pope that which the Protestants have accused us of doing.
A reader, Mr. Benjamin Van Dyck, has written in the combox about the term, "papolatry" and more. It is a comment which I am going to publish because it is a salient and profound assessment of the current situation.
I thank Mr. Van Dyck for his wisdom.
The word, papolatry, is of Protestant origin and used as a smear on Catholicism. The point of using it, at least on my part, is to show how we have ascribe to the pope that which the Protestants have accused us of doing.
A reader, Mr. Benjamin Van Dyck, has written in the combox about the term, "papolatry" and more. It is a comment which I am going to publish because it is a salient and profound assessment of the current situation.
I thank Mr. Van Dyck for his wisdom.
I do not use the term "papolatry" because it was conceived in Protestantism. Besides, the sycophants of Pope Francis are not actually adoring him as a god, but irrationally extending pontifical infallibility beyond the criteria posed by His Divine Majesty. It has been the typical modus operandi of the subversive elements within the Church whenever they had the Pope under their sway. When the Pope contradicted their agenda, however, this 'extended papal infallibility' of theirs disappeared like snow before the sun. Very 'convenient' for them.
There is some kind of confusion of terminologies going on throughout the internet. I see words like "ultramontanism" and "clericalism" employed to describe the tyrannical behaviour of the present Pope of Rome and his yes-men, while these words were originally used as synonymous with Catholicism, and specifically the teachings of the First Vatican Council. People must stop doing this, because the enemy of "ultramontanism" and "clericalism" is sitting right there upon the august Apostolical See, abusing his authority to push forth his ecclesiastical hippie revolution.
I am convinced that God has permitted Pope Francis to be unleashed on the Church so that the Ratzingerian paradigm of equilibrium between so-called 'conservatives' and 'progressives would be shattered irrevocably. I remember well how stagnant this situation was in the days of Benedict XVI as Pope, and how the Ratzingerians insisted on the impossible pretense that the errors of Paul VI were not inherently erroneous, and that the texts could be reconciled with the Apostolic Tradition. They would even refuse the Roman Mass to those who were unwilling to burn this grain of incense to 'Mother Synthesis' on the altars of Hegel. Pope Francis, since his election, has been painfully embarrassing them to the point where those who continue to write seriously about the Ratzingerian "Hermeneutics of Continuity", read as if their articles are pieces of intended satire.
Let the Princes of the Church recognise the divine visitation, and attack the problems within the Church at their root; the invisible coup d'état wrought by Judeo-Masonry during the Second Vatican Council. Let them finally admit that "Dignitatis Humanae", "Nostra Aetate" and "Amoris Laetitia" must be condemned as objectively saturated with the depraved spirit of the maçonnerie, instead of continuing to insist that they be "read in the light of Tradition", which is impossible. When one shines the light of Tradition upon them, hideous devils are seen, not continuity. Francis is but the bitter fruit of a bitter tree.
Benjamin Van Dyck.
Saturday 22 July 2017
The Papolatry given to this Francis of Rome has now even been articulated by Cardinal Müller
From the Eponymous Flower and Katholiches:
Now, can we get this Cardinal to speak up about a few more things of which he knows?
Muller's replacement, The new Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Luis Ladaria, has now said:
"Deep and spontaneous harmony"? What if the Pope is wrong? Truly, the job of the Prefect and the curia in general is to serve the pope, but they are to serve Christ first. The presumption is, of course, that the pope is serving Christ.
This writer has referred many times to "papolatry." It is a sin. It is a violation of the First Commandment of God. The Pope is a man. He is the servant of the servants of God. He is to be respected and obeyed in so far as he is carrying out the true faith and teaching true doctrine in line with his predecessors and the Magisterium.
When he deviates from the truth, he is to be corrected. If he refuses to be corrected, then he is to be ignored and if necessary, publicly scolded for his apostasy and heresy. These are not personal sins, this is public scandal. However, his heresy and apostasy is magnified when his minions in clerics and the faithful people in their ignorance and blind obedience, give unto any pope, that which is reserved to God alone. Add to this, a character of infallibility that is just not what the Church teachers or has ever taught. Protestants, Neo-Caths and Sedevacantists carry this papal authority too far. The First Vatican Council in its declaration of infallibility did not give power to the pope, it defined it, and, it limited it.
Do not ascribe to the Bishop of Rome that which he does not have!
Why are Catholics doing what Protestants have accused Catholics of doing, worshiping the pope as if his passing of gas has the scent of frankincense? His is not the odour of sanctity, it is more like sulphur.
Stop this papolatry!
No pope, not John Paul II not Francis is to be given such treatment. It is all around Francis, people are blind, they are sycophantic, but they are waking up. Unfortunately, there are those around him who are lusting at the ability to exploit peoples good intentions and ignorance and this pope's megalomonia for their own evil purposes.
May God deliver us soon from this Peronist Pope and the Jesuit and sodomite regime that has seized control of the Church.
[Katholisches] "Every Catholic, especially every bishop and every cardinal, has a positive and constructive relationship with the Pope. But this is anything but courtly manners and the groveling of subordinates, against which Pope Francis always spoke."
"That means that not everything he does and says is, from the outset, already perfect and unquestionable."
"There should be no personal cult and a pope-touching tourism."
Cardinal Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Roman Congregation for the Congregation of the Doctrine and the Faith, no longer in office, on Pope Franziskus, report of the German Press Agency (DPA), quoted from Der Spiegel v. July 19, 2017.
Now, can we get this Cardinal to speak up about a few more things of which he knows?
Muller's replacement, The new Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Luis Ladaria, has now said:
‘I am in a
deep and spontaneous harmony with the Pope’.
This writer has referred many times to "papolatry." It is a sin. It is a violation of the First Commandment of God. The Pope is a man. He is the servant of the servants of God. He is to be respected and obeyed in so far as he is carrying out the true faith and teaching true doctrine in line with his predecessors and the Magisterium.
When he deviates from the truth, he is to be corrected. If he refuses to be corrected, then he is to be ignored and if necessary, publicly scolded for his apostasy and heresy. These are not personal sins, this is public scandal. However, his heresy and apostasy is magnified when his minions in clerics and the faithful people in their ignorance and blind obedience, give unto any pope, that which is reserved to God alone. Add to this, a character of infallibility that is just not what the Church teachers or has ever taught. Protestants, Neo-Caths and Sedevacantists carry this papal authority too far. The First Vatican Council in its declaration of infallibility did not give power to the pope, it defined it, and, it limited it.
Do not ascribe to the Bishop of Rome that which he does not have!
Why are Catholics doing what Protestants have accused Catholics of doing, worshiping the pope as if his passing of gas has the scent of frankincense? His is not the odour of sanctity, it is more like sulphur.
Stop this papolatry!
No pope, not John Paul II not Francis is to be given such treatment. It is all around Francis, people are blind, they are sycophantic, but they are waking up. Unfortunately, there are those around him who are lusting at the ability to exploit peoples good intentions and ignorance and this pope's megalomonia for their own evil purposes.
May God deliver us soon from this Peronist Pope and the Jesuit and sodomite regime that has seized control of the Church.
Labels:
Cardinal Muller,
Francis of Rome,
Papolatry
Friday 21 July 2017
Arturo Sosa the Apostate Catholic, Judas Priest and "baptised" Buddhist presiding over the gaying of the Jesuits
Arturo Sosa, S.J., is the Superior General of the Society of Jesus - the Jesuits, he has This once great Society of priests has been taken over by sodomites and homosexualists, modernists, heretics and pagans. We see it daily in our Twitter feeds with the likes of James Martin and others.
The Jesuits have become infiltrated with sodomites, pretty clear from this Facebook page.
Now, Sosa, has appeared in a Buddhist ceremony.
Notice how he looks at the camera.
Yes, you pathetic pagan, you've been caught.
OnePeterFive has the pathetic details.
The Jesuits have become infiltrated with sodomites, pretty clear from this Facebook page.
Notice how he looks at the camera.
Yes, you pathetic pagan, you've been caught.
OnePeterFive has the pathetic details.
Labels:
Arturo Sosa EssJay,
Homoheresy,
Jesuits,
Pagans
Thursday 20 July 2017
What secrets are hidden behind Pope Ratzinger's decision?
No doubt, you have probably heard of the report coming from Germany on the more than 500 boys abused physically and sexually at the Catholic boys choir school in Regensburg. Georg Ratzinger, the brother of Pope Josef Ratzinger denies any involvement.
Do not blame the victims.
It often takes twenty, thirty even forty years for the victims of violence and sexual abuse to find within themselves, the strength to deal with the matter and confront their tormentors. You must give the benefit of the doubt to the victims. A lawyer working on these matters once told me that, at first, he did not believe these accusations, it was just too convenient. But not long after he began defending the Church in a legal sense, he realised that the victims were telling the truth. His advice was to deal with the matter properly, lovingly and effectively with openness and compassion. Believe me when I write, I am simpatico with those victims and have empathy for them for reasons that are harmonious and consistent with their own experiences.
Which brings me to the point with which I wish to get.
There has been suspicion that Josef Ratzinger knew what had happened in Regensburg and that he would be accused of being the "Pope with the abusive brother priest."
If Josef Ratzinger renounced the papacy to protect his brother, himself or the Church from scandal, then that renouncement was under duress.
Yet, the reality is, we do not know the truth. Therefore, there can be no mistaking that Jorge Bergoglio is indeed the Bishop of Rome and that makes him, the Pope. He has been accepted by the priests of Rome.
But let us be clear, there is no expanded "petrine office."
One day, the truth will be known, for now, this is all we have and we have to suffer it.
No, I am wrong, we have Our Lord Jesus Christ with whom we shall remain notwithstanding the rats and cockroaches that have overrun the sinking ship.
Do not blame the victims.
It often takes twenty, thirty even forty years for the victims of violence and sexual abuse to find within themselves, the strength to deal with the matter and confront their tormentors. You must give the benefit of the doubt to the victims. A lawyer working on these matters once told me that, at first, he did not believe these accusations, it was just too convenient. But not long after he began defending the Church in a legal sense, he realised that the victims were telling the truth. His advice was to deal with the matter properly, lovingly and effectively with openness and compassion. Believe me when I write, I am simpatico with those victims and have empathy for them for reasons that are harmonious and consistent with their own experiences.
Which brings me to the point with which I wish to get.
There has been suspicion that Josef Ratzinger knew what had happened in Regensburg and that he would be accused of being the "Pope with the abusive brother priest."
If Josef Ratzinger renounced the papacy to protect his brother, himself or the Church from scandal, then that renouncement was under duress.
Yet, the reality is, we do not know the truth. Therefore, there can be no mistaking that Jorge Bergoglio is indeed the Bishop of Rome and that makes him, the Pope. He has been accepted by the priests of Rome.
But let us be clear, there is no expanded "petrine office."
One day, the truth will be known, for now, this is all we have and we have to suffer it.
No, I am wrong, we have Our Lord Jesus Christ with whom we shall remain notwithstanding the rats and cockroaches that have overrun the sinking ship.
Labels:
Crisis in the Church,
Pope Benedict
Wednesday 19 July 2017
Offensive picture and post?
It seems that my post with the picture of Jesuit Anthony Spadaro and the Filipino Cardinal Tagle has elicited some criticism. Some of my readers have been offended, that I provoked ridicule upon these men and that it was uncharitable and elicited uncharitable comments.
Far be it from me to deny any priest a drink of Stolichnaya or Bailey's or Grande Marnier. Heck, one was over for dinner on Tuesday night, and he enjoyed some Rose in the gardent before dinner with Fox and I and then a nice bottle of Monasterio with the barbecued lamb.
But when one considers the volume on that bar, the picture over it, the suffering of Catholics in the Middle East and the distress at the state of the crisis which we have found ourselves in due to these men, I have a hard time showing any sympathy to these two.
Cocaine parties.
Homosexual orgies.
Appointing of pro-abortionists to commissions.
Here we have a priest and cardinal, both confidants of the Bishop of Rome appearing in a photo showing complete disregard for the state of the world but rejoicing in the lap of luxury.
The scandal is caused by those who scandalise, not by those who report it.
Far be it from me to deny any priest a drink of Stolichnaya or Bailey's or Grande Marnier. Heck, one was over for dinner on Tuesday night, and he enjoyed some Rose in the gardent before dinner with Fox and I and then a nice bottle of Monasterio with the barbecued lamb.
But when one considers the volume on that bar, the picture over it, the suffering of Catholics in the Middle East and the distress at the state of the crisis which we have found ourselves in due to these men, I have a hard time showing any sympathy to these two.
Cocaine parties.
Homosexual orgies.
Appointing of pro-abortionists to commissions.
Here we have a priest and cardinal, both confidants of the Bishop of Rome appearing in a photo showing complete disregard for the state of the world but rejoicing in the lap of luxury.
The scandal is caused by those who scandalise, not by those who report it.
"Pope" Bergoglio doubts his own orthodoxy - doubt no longer George!
What kind of intellectual pygmy in the realm of theology and philosophy is this Bishop of Rome who would need to ask if his crowning work, the abominable Amoris Laetitita, is "orthodox."
But he is no "intellectual pygmy." He knows exactly what he is doing.
Perhaps this is more of a "mafia" style. You know, a Mafia Don is caught in the act of something untoward by an underling and he says, "What did you see?" eliciting the response, "See? I didn't see anything?"
In a stunning revelation, his official "interpreter," Austrian Cardinal Christophe Schönborn, revealed that he had assured Bishop of Rome Bergoglio that this filthy and scandalous document penned by a committee of miscreants was "orthodox." and that assurance gave him "comfort."
The mask fell long ago on this papacy and the filthy minions around it. It is only now that it has become more clear to so many more.
The Spadaro's, Martin's and other priestly, clericalist boobs on Twitter can try to defend this monstrous intellectually bankrupt papacy, but it is no longer possible.
May God deliver us from this persecution without delay and send us a truly holy Pope who will restore all things in Christ.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-francis-questioned-orthodoxy-of-amoris-laetitia
https://cruxnow.com/commentary/2017/07/15/cardinal-schonborn-moral-theology-needs-principles-prudence/
But he is no "intellectual pygmy." He knows exactly what he is doing.
Perhaps this is more of a "mafia" style. You know, a Mafia Don is caught in the act of something untoward by an underling and he says, "What did you see?" eliciting the response, "See? I didn't see anything?"
In a stunning revelation, his official "interpreter," Austrian Cardinal Christophe Schönborn, revealed that he had assured Bishop of Rome Bergoglio that this filthy and scandalous document penned by a committee of miscreants was "orthodox." and that assurance gave him "comfort."
The mask fell long ago on this papacy and the filthy minions around it. It is only now that it has become more clear to so many more.
The Spadaro's, Martin's and other priestly, clericalist boobs on Twitter can try to defend this monstrous intellectually bankrupt papacy, but it is no longer possible.
May God deliver us from this persecution without delay and send us a truly holy Pope who will restore all things in Christ.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-francis-questioned-orthodoxy-of-amoris-laetitia
https://cruxnow.com/commentary/2017/07/15/cardinal-schonborn-moral-theology-needs-principles-prudence/
Destroying Christianity from within
Pretty smart for an atheist, eh?
Labels:
Crisis in the Church,
RockingMrE
Sunday 16 July 2017
Well, Holy Father, do you have more to tell us?
Pope Benedict XVI sent a message to be read at the Requiem of Cardinal Meisner.
What struck me particularly in the last conversations with the Cardinal, now gone home, was the natural cheerfulness, the inner peace and the assurance he had found. We know that it was hard for him, the passionate shepherd and pastor of souls, to leave his office, and this precisely at a time when the Church had a pressing need for shepherds who would oppose the dictatorship of the zeitgeist, fully resolved to act and think from a faith standpoint. Yet I have been all the more impressed that in this last period of his life he learned to let go, and live increasingly from the conviction that the Lord does not leave his Church, even if at times the ship is almost filled to the point of shipwreck.
Papa Joseph Ratzinger abandoned the ship. The rats on the ship will be running scared now that he has revealed his thoughts. Will his jailers let him get away with this statement, or will his, be the next, "Requiem."
There was a time in which I had great love and affection for this man. He was the grandfather I never knew, the father I missed, my favourite uncle now long gone.
It's time for the so-called, "Emeritus," to come clean with the rest of us about the reality in which we are now living.
Labels:
Crisis in the Church,
Pope Benedict
Saturday 15 July 2017
Me, and my buddy
Tony Blocked-By Spadaro, EssJay, and Luis lobbying-to-be-the-next Pope Tagle, enjoying some fun time together.
Nice bar boyz.
Who's apartment?
Where's Coco?
Labels:
Anthony Spadaro,
Cardinal Tagle,
Team Bergoglio
Friday 14 July 2017
Does the CCCB liturgy head, Father Terry Fournier, believe in Transubstantiation?
Do not sit out there and accuse this writer of "grave sin" because I reported what the priest interviewed should have corrected right after it appeared in the press. Did he not read it? Did he not see what the reporter wrote? Should he not have contracted the reporter to retract or clarify? Should he not have written here or responded to the email stating that he asked The Star for a correction or clarification?
How dare you sit in judgement of this writer.
Go ask the priest!
We have Monsignors using money from who knows where to buy cocaine for a sodomite orgy in the Vatican - a situation totally ignored by the secular press, but this is what they have spent a week reporting to discredit the Church for the few Celiac sufferers who cannot consume Blessed Sacrament under one species, even though the other is available.
Anyone who cannot receive Body of the Lord under the form of bread, can receive the Blood of Christ under what was wine, even a child and even at the traditional Latin Mass.
Look, if there is no gluten, then it is not wheat flour, it does not make bread and there is no confection of the Blessed Sacrament, no transubstantiation, period!
This is not a new instruction by the Church, it is simply a restatement of the facts for the reason that the abuse is occurring by errant priests and bishops and the result is that the Sacrament simply isn't!
Invalid matter does not make for a Sacrament!
The Toronto Star is a notorious and near-bankrupt rag of anti-Catholic bigotry and leftism and it has joined the parade. What the Star writes on the matter is not the point, it is who is interviewed and what is said that must be exposed to the Catholic faithful.
Andrea Adam, a rather poorly catechized Catholic mother has a child suffering from Celiac's disease. Mrs. Adam would not accept her parish priest's decision that gluten-free hosts would not be provided. The Toronto Star reporter states that "in the end, Adam took her daughter to Ottawa, where she was able to receive Holy Communion with a gluten-free host."
I've got news for Andrea Adam.
Your daughter was not, "able to receive Holy Communion." She received a substance made from non-wheat flour that was nothing more than that.
Did know priest ever tell the poor woman this?
Note that this was Ottawa, under the nose of Archbishop Terence Prendergast, S.J.!
Now, for more.
Terry Fournier is a priest of the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie and is National Director of Office of Liturgy (English Sector) for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. Fournier is quoted in the Toronto Star article as follows:
Did you catch that?
"Symbolizes the blood of Christ."
The reporter does not place the phrase, which symbolizes the blood of Christ, in quotation marks.
Why is this? Did Father say, "don't quote me," with a wink, wink and a nudge, nudge? Is there a reason why the writer quotes him, but does not, at the same time?
I think Father Terry Fournier and Bishop Crosby, President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, should confirm whether the Grand Pub-ha of the liturgical mess of the mass that occurs in Canada actually believes in Transubstantiation and the Real Presence, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharistic species under the appearance of bread and wine.
Yes, or no, Father Fournier, which is it?
Oh, and, Your Grace, what of that parish in Ottawa with the invalid matter?
Labels:
CCCB,
Eucharistic sacrilege,
Holy Eucharist,
Woe Canada
Vatican targets and insults faithful Catholics - The Unholy See
The gross insult to faithful, American (and many Canadians by extension) Catholics by Tony Spadaro is below. If one says that the Bishop of Rome did not know about it he surely does now.
In this screed, he also targets Michael Voris and the folks at ChurchMilitant. By extension, this Jesuit attacks individual Catholics, including those of us who blog and think along the same lines as Michael Voris which to me, is to think with the Church. The Church of my childhood, the Church of my parents, the Church of my Maronite ancestors.
We did not ask for this. We were living in peace until that March in 2013. We have continued, in spite of the insults, degradation and heretical statements of the Bishop of Rome to continue to remain loyal to the Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Church and the Rock of Peter and to do the work necessary and to which we have been called. In my case, it is the weekly chanting of the true and proper Mass in a community two hours from my home. A community growing, with many children, with an organist now ready to go on to Catholic college and her 12 year old sister preparing to take over playing 14 Gregorian Masses, five Creeds and more. My work continues in Toronto with the assistance and training for the proper and true Roman Mass. I will not be stopped. You must not be stopped.
This screed is a disgrace but it must be seen by all of us as a badge of honour.
Never, did I think, I would live to be insulted by the Bishop of Rome.
Rejouissance!
In this screed, he also targets Michael Voris and the folks at ChurchMilitant. By extension, this Jesuit attacks individual Catholics, including those of us who blog and think along the same lines as Michael Voris which to me, is to think with the Church. The Church of my childhood, the Church of my parents, the Church of my Maronite ancestors.
We did not ask for this. We were living in peace until that March in 2013. We have continued, in spite of the insults, degradation and heretical statements of the Bishop of Rome to continue to remain loyal to the Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Church and the Rock of Peter and to do the work necessary and to which we have been called. In my case, it is the weekly chanting of the true and proper Mass in a community two hours from my home. A community growing, with many children, with an organist now ready to go on to Catholic college and her 12 year old sister preparing to take over playing 14 Gregorian Masses, five Creeds and more. My work continues in Toronto with the assistance and training for the proper and true Roman Mass. I will not be stopped. You must not be stopped.
This screed is a disgrace but it must be seen by all of us as a badge of honour.
Never, did I think, I would live to be insulted by the Bishop of Rome.
Rejouissance!
Evangelical
Fundamentalism and Catholic Integralism in the USA: A surprising ecumenism
Antonio Spadaro S.J., Editor-in-chief of La CiviltÃ
Cattolica
Marcelo Figueroa, Presbyterian pastor, Editor-in-chief of
the Argentinean edition of L’Osservatore Romano
In God We Trust. This phrase is printed on the banknotes of
the United States of America and is the current national motto. It appeared for
the first time on a coin in 1864 but did not become official until Congress
passed a motion in 1956. A motto is important for a nation whose foundation was
rooted in religious motivations. For many it is a simple declaration of faith.
For others, it is the synthesis of a problematic fusion between religion and
state, faith and politics, religious values and economy.
Religion, political Manichaeism and a cult of the apocalypse
Religion has had a more incisive role in electoral processes
and government decisions over recent decades, especially in some US
governments. It offers a moral role for identifying what is good and what is
bad.
At times this mingling of politics, morals and religion has
taken on a Manichaean language that divides reality between absolute Good and
absolute Evil. In fact, after President George W. Bush spoke in his day about
challenging the “axis of evil” and stated it was the USA’s duty to “free the
world from evil” following the events of September 11, 2001. Today President Trump steers the fight
against a wider, generic collective entity of the “bad” or even the “very bad.”
Sometimes the tones used by his supporters in some campaigns take on meanings
that we could define as “epic.”
These stances are based on Christian-Evangelical
fundamentalist principles dating from the beginning of the 20th Century that
have been gradually radicalized. These have moved on from a rejection of all
that is mundane – as politics was considered – to bringing a strong and
determined religious-moral influence to bear on democratic processes and their
results.
The term “evangelical fundamentalist” can today be
assimilated to the “evangelical right” or “theoconservatism” and has its
origins in the years 1910-1915. In that period a South Californian millionaire,
Lyman Stewart, published the 12-volume work The Fundamentals. The author wanted
to respond to the threat of modernist ideas of the time. He summarized the
thought of authors whose doctrinal support he appreciated. He exemplified the
moral, social, collective and individual aspects of the evangelical faith. His
admirers include many politicians and even two recent presidents: Ronald Reagan
and George W. Bush.
The social-religious groups inspired by authors such as
Stewart consider the United States to be a nation blessed by God. And they do
not hesitate to base the economic growth of the country on a literal adherence
to the Bible. Over more recent years this current of thought has been fed by
the stigmatization of enemies who are often “demonized.”
The panorama of threats to their understanding of the
American way of life have included modernist spirits, the black civil rights
movement, the hippy movement, communism, feminist movements and so on. And now
in our day there are the migrants and the Muslims. To maintain conflict levels,
their biblical exegeses have evolved toward a decontextualized reading of the
Old Testament texts about the conquering and defense of the “promised land,”
rather than be guided by the incisive look, full of love, of Jesus in the
Gospels.
Within this narrative, whatever pushes toward conflict is
not off limits. It does not take into account the bond between capital and
profits and arms sales. Quite the opposite, often war itself is assimilated to
the heroic conquests of the “Lord of Hosts” of Gideon and David. In this
Manichaean vision, belligerence can acquire a theological justification and
there are pastors who seek a biblical foundation for it, using the scriptural
texts out of context.
Another interesting aspect is the relationship with creation
of these religious groups that are composed mainly of whites from the deep
American South. There is a sort of “anesthetic” with regard to ecological
disasters and problems generated by climate change. They profess “dominionism”
and consider ecologists as people who are against the Christian faith. They
place their own roots in a literalist understanding of the creation narratives
of the book of Genesis that put humanity in a position of “dominion” over
creation, while creation remains subject to human will in biblical submission.
In this theological vision, natural disasters, dramatic
climate change and the global ecological crisis are not only not perceived as
an alarm that should lead them to reconsider their dogmas, but they are seen as
the complete opposite: signs that confirm their non-allegorical understanding
of the final figures of the Book of Revelation and their apocalyptic hope in a
“new heaven and a new earth.”
Theirs is a prophetic formula: fight the threats to American
Christian values and prepare for the imminent justice of an Armageddon, a final
showdown between Good and Evil, between God and Satan. In this sense, every
process (be it of peace, dialogue, etc.) collapses before the needs of the end,
the final battle against the enemy. And the community of believers (faith)
becomes a community of combatants (fight). Such a unidirectional reading of the
biblical texts can anesthetize consciences or actively support the most
atrocious and dramatic portrayals of a world that is living beyond the
frontiers of its own “promised land.”
Pastor Rousas John Rushdoony (1916-2001) is the father of
so-called “Christian reconstructionism” (or “dominionist theology”) that had a
great influence on the theopolitical vision of Christian fundamentalism. This
is the doctrine that feeds political organizations and networks such as the
Council for National Policy and the thoughts of their exponents such as Steve
Bannon, currently chief strategist at the White House and supporter of an
apocalyptic geopolitics.[1]
“The first thing we have to do is give a voice to our
Churches,” some say. The real meaning of this type of expression is the desire
for some influence in the political and parliamentary sphere and in the
juridical and educational areas so that public norms can be subjected to
religious morals.
Rushdoony’s doctrine maintains a theocratic necessity:
submit the state to the Bible with a logic that is no different from the one
that inspires Islamic fundamentalism. At heart, the narrative of terror shapes
the world-views of jihadists and the new crusaders and is imbibed from wells
that are not too far apart. We must not forget that the theopolitics spread by
Isis is based on the same cult of an apocalypse that needs to be brought about
as soon as possible. So, it is not just accidental that George W. Bush was seen
as a “great crusader” by Osama bin Laden.
Theology of prosperity and the rhetoric of religious liberty
Together with political Manichaeism, another relevant
phenomenon is the passage from original puritan pietism, as expressed in Max
Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, to the “Theology of
Prosperity” that is mainly proposed in the media and by millionaire pastors and
missionary organizations with strong religious, social and political influence.
They proclaim a “Prosperity Gospel” for they believe God desires his followers
to be physically healthy, materially rich and personally happy.
It is easy to note how some messages of the electoral
campaign and their semiotics are full of references to evangelical
fundamentalism. For example, we see political leaders appearing triumphant with
a Bible in their hands.
Pastor Norman Vincent Peale (1898-1993) is an important
figure who inspired US Presidents such as Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and
Donald Trump. He officiated at the first wedding of the current president and
the funeral of his parents. He was a successful preacher. He sold millions of
copies of his book The Power of Positive Thinking (1952) that is full of
phrases such as “If you believe in something, you get it”, “Nothing will stop
you if you keep repeating: God is with me, who is against me” or “Keep in mind
your vision of success and success will come” and so on. Many prosperity
prosperous televangelists mix marketing, strategic direction and preaching,
concentrating more on personal success than on salvation or eternal life.
A third element, together with Manichaeism and the prosperity
gospel, is a particular form of proclamation of the defense of “religious
liberty.” The erosion of religious liberty is clearly a grave threat within a
spreading secularism. But we must avoid its defense coming in the
fundamentalist terms of a “religion in total freedom,” perceived as a direct
virtual challenge to the secularity of the state.
Fundamentalist ecumenism
Appealing to the values of fundamentalism, a strange form of
surprising ecumenism is developing between Evangelical fundamentalists and Catholic
Integralists brought together by the same desire for religious influence in the
political sphere.
Some who profess themselves to be Catholic express
themselves in ways that until recently were unknown in their tradition and
using tones much closer to Evangelicals. They are defined as value voters as
far as attracting electoral mass support is concerned. There is a well-defined
world of ecumenical convergence between sectors that are paradoxically
competitors when it comes to confessional belonging. This meeting over shared
objectives happens around such themes as abortion, same-sex marriage, religious
education in schools and other matters generally considered moral or tied to
values. Both Evangelical and Catholic Integralists condemn traditional ecumenism
and yet promote an ecumenism of conflict that unites them in the nostalgic
dream of a theocratic type of state.
However, the most dangerous prospect for this strange
ecumenism is attributable to its xenophobic and Islamophobic vision that wants
walls and purifying deportations. The word “ecumenism” transforms into a
paradox, into an “ecumenism of hate.” Intolerance is a celestial mark of
purism. Reductionism is the exegetical methodology. Ultra-literalism is its
hermeneutical key.
Clearly there is an enormous difference between these
concepts and the ecumenism employed by Pope Francis with various Christian
bodies and other religious confessions. His is an ecumenism that moves under
the urge of inclusion, peace, encounter and bridges. This presence of opposing
ecumenisms – and their contrasting perceptions of the faith and visions of the
world where religions have irreconcilable roles – is perhaps the least known
and most dramatic aspect of the spread of Integralist fundamentalism. Here we
can understand why the pontiff is so committed to working against “walls” and
any kind of “war of religion.”
The temptation of “spiritual war”
The religious element should never be confused with the
political one. Confusing spiritual power with temporal power means subjecting
one to the other. An evident aspect of Pope Francis’ geopolitics rests in not
giving theological room to the power to impose oneself or to find an internal
or external enemy to fight. There is a need to flee the temptation to project
divinity on political power that then uses it for its own ends. Francis empties
from within the narrative of sectarian millenarianism and dominionism that is
preparing the apocalypse and the “final clash.”[2] Underlining mercy as a
fundamental attribute of God expresses this radically Christian need.
Francis wants to break the organic link between culture,
politics, institution and Church. Spirituality cannot tie itself to governments
or military pacts for it is at the service of all men and women. Religions
cannot consider some people as sworn enemies nor others as eternal friends.
Religion should not become the guarantor of the dominant classes. Yet it is
this very dynamic with a spurious theological flavor that tries to impose its
own law and logic in the political sphere.
There is a shocking rhetoric used, for example, by the
writers of Church Militant, a successful US-based digital platform that is
openly in favor of a political ultraconservatism and uses Christian symbols to
impose itself. This abuse is called “authentic Christianity.” And to show its
own preferences, it has created a close analogy between Donald Trump and
Emperor Constantine, and between Hilary Clinton and Diocletian. The American
elections in this perspective were seen as a “spiritual war.”[3]
This warlike and militant approach seems most attractive and
evocative to a certain public, especially given that the victory of Constantine
– it was presumed impossible for him to beat Maxentius and the Roman
establishment – had to be attributed to a divine intervention: in hoc signo
vinces.
Church Militant asks if Trump’s victory can be attributed to
the prayers of Americans. The response suggested is affirmative. The indirect
missioning for President Trump is clear: he has to follow through on the
consequences. This is a very direct message that then wants to condition the
presidency by framing it as a divine election. In hoc signo vinces. Indeed.
Today, more than ever, power needs to be removed from its
faded confessional dress, from its armor, its rusty breastplate. The
fundamentalist theopolitical plan is to set up a kingdom of the divinity here
and now. And that divinity is obviously the projection of the power that has
been built. This vision generates the ideology of conquest.
The theopolitical plan that is truly Christian would be
eschatological, that is it applies to the future and orients current history
toward the Kingdom of God, a kingdom of justice and peace. This vision
generates a process of integration that unfolds with a diplomacy that crowns no
one as a “man of Providence.”
And this is why the diplomacy of the Holy See wants to
establish direct and fluid relations with the superpowers, without entering
into pre-constituted networks of alliances and influence. In this sphere, the
pope does not want to say who is right or who is wrong for he knows that at the
root of conflicts there is always a fight for power. So, there is no need to
imagine a taking of sides for moral reasons, much worse for spiritual ones.
Francis radically rejects the idea of activating a Kingdom
of God on earth as was at the basis of the Holy Roman Empire and similar
political and institutional forms, including at the level of a “party.”
Understood this way, the “elected people” would enter a complicated political
and religious web that would make them forget they are at the service of the
world, placing them in opposition to those who are different, those who do not
belong, that is the “enemy.”
So, then the Christian roots of a people are never to be
understood in an ethnic way. The notions of roots and identity do not have the
same content for a Catholic as for a neo-Pagan. Triumphalist, arrogant and
vindictive ethnicism is actually the opposite of Christianity. The pope on May
9 in an interview with the French dailyLa Croix, said: “Yes Europe has
Christian roots. Christianity has the duty of watering them, but in a spirit of
service as in the washing of feet. The duty of Christianity for Europe is that
of service.” And again: “The contribution of Christianity to a culture is that
of Christ washing the feet, or the service and the gift of life. There is no
room for colonialism.”
Against fear
Which feeling underlies the persuasive temptation for a
spurious alliance between politics and religious fundamentalism? It is fear of
the breakup of a constructed order and the fear of chaos. Indeed, it functions
that way thanks to the chaos perceived. The political strategy for success
becomes that of raising the tones of the conflictual, exaggerating disorder,
agitating the souls of the people by painting worrying scenarios beyond any
realism.
Religion at this point becomes a guarantor of order and a
political part would incarnate its needs. The appeal to the apocalypse
justifies the power desired by a god or colluded in with a god. And fundamentalism
thereby shows itself not to be the product of a religious experience but a poor
and abusive perversion of it.
This is why Francis is carrying forward a systematic
counter-narration with respect to the narrative of fear. There is a need to
fight against the manipulation of this season of anxiety and insecurity. Again,
Francis is courageous here and gives no theological-political legitimacy to
terrorists, avoiding any reduction of Islam to Islamic terrorism. Nor does he
give it to those who postulate and want a “holy war” or to build barrier-fences
crowned with barbed wire. The only crown that counts for the Christian is the
one with thorns that Christ wore on high.[4]
FOOTNOTES
[1] Bannon believes in the apocalyptic vision that William
Strauss and Neil Howe theorized in their book The Fourth Turning: What Cycles
of History Tell Us About America’s Next Rendezvous with Destiny. See also N.
Howe, “Where did Steve Bannon get his worldview? From my book”, in The
Washington Post, February 24, 2017.
[2] See A. Aresu, “Pope Francis against the Apocalypse”, in
Macrogeo(www.macrogeo.global/analysis/pope-francis-against-the-apocalypse),
June 9, 2017.
[3] See “Donald ‘Constantine’ Trump? Could Heaven be
intervening directly in the election?”, in Church Militant (www.churchmilitant.com/video/episode/vortex-donald-constantine-trump).
[4] For further reflection see D. J. Fares, “L’antropologia
politica di Papa Francesco», in Civ. Catt. 2014 I 345-360; A. Spadaro, “La
diplomazia di Francesco. La misericordia come processo politico”, ib 2016 I
209-226; D. J. Fares, “Papa Francesco e la politica”, ib 2016 I 373-385; J. L.
Narvaja, “La crisi di ogni politica cristiana. Erich Przywara e l’‘idea di
Europa’”, ib 2016 I 437-448; Id., “Il significato della politica internazionale
di Francesco”, ib 2017 III 8-15.
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